McCarthy explains 'damage' letter

Arizona Capitol Times
July 10, 2010
Editorial

The Arizona Tax Research Association and 4 other groups June 26 called on legislators to "sine die as soon as possible before any more damage is done. " Our reporter at the time was not able to get in touch with ATRA director Kevin McCarthy for an explanation.

I was running around trying to kill five bills," he said today. "From a taxpayer's perspective, the session left a lot to be desired," he said, noting the veto of the permanent repeal of equalization property tax to the failure to enact any reforms of secondary property tax laws were disappointments.

The shortcomings, which also included failed strides to limit special districts and fire districts taxing, also didn't help, especially after the group worked to oppose "drastic" tax cutting initiatives by the Prop. 13 and Arizona Tax Revolt campaigns. The two efforts would have drained $2.5 billion from property tax revenues, McCarthy said.

The lobbyist also blasts the budget's debt financing, K-12 payment rollovers and special fund raids as "gimmicks" that do nothing to address next year's estimated $1.3 billion deficit or what he estimates to be a $1.5 billion shortfall in 2010.

"For anybody who likes chaos at the Capitol it'll be a good year to watch," he said.

But perhaps the sharpest critique of the Legislature appeared in ATRA's May 2008 newsletter that read "state policymakers now appear incapable of representing the interests of property taxpayers over local governments and union representatives."

But as terse as the sine die letter to the legislators was, responses from legislators, both R and D, were all positive, McCarthy said.